Dan Fogelberg: Same Old Lang Syne

Remarks:

This went to #9 in the US in 1980 and has since become a classic December song on radio stations in North America.

Fogelberg said it was based on a true story, but would not say who the woman was. The truth came out after he died in 2007 when Jill Anderson Gruelich (pictured) outed herself. It took place on December 24th 1975 at 1302 East Frye Avenue in Peoria, Illinois (see the Google Street View at 40.7121938° N, 89.5773293° W). There is still a grocery store there (its current storefront appears in the video). The snow did turn into rain.

Greulich says the story is true, six-pack and all, except that her eyes are green, not blue, and she married her a physical education teacher, not an architect. She was divorced by the time the song came out.

The drummer, Russ Kunkel, has appeared in this space before, playing on Carly Simon’s “Coming Around Again” (1986).

See also:

• songs: the 1980s
• Carly Simon: Coming Around Again
• Steely Dan: Rikki Don’t Lose That Number
• The one that got away

Lyrics:

Met my old lover in the grocery store
The snow was falling Christmas Eve
I stole behind her in the frozen foods
And I touched her on the sleeve

She didn’t recognize the face at first
But then her eyes flew open wide
She went to hug me and she spilled her purse
And we laughed until we cried

We took her groceries to the checkout stand
The food was totaled up and bagged
We stood there lost in our embarrassment
As the conversation dragged

Went to have ourselves a drink or two
But couldn’t find an open bar
We bought a six-pack at the liquor store
And we drank it in her car

We drank a toast to innocence
We drank a toast to now
And tried to reach beyond the emptiness
But neither one knew how

She said she’d married her an architect
Who kept her warm and safe and dry
She would have liked to say she loved the man
But she didn’t like to lie

I said the years had been a friend to her
And that her eyes were still as blue
But in those eyes I wasn’t sure if I
Saw doubt or gratitude

She said she saw me in the record stores
And that I must be doing well
I said the audience was heavenly
But the traveling was hell

We drank a toast to innocence
We drank a toast to now
And tried to reach beyond the emptiness
But neither one knew how

We drank a toast to innocence
We drank a toast to time
Reliving in our eloquence
Another ‘auld lang syne’

The beer was empty and our tongues were tired
And running out of things to say
She gave a kiss to me as I got out
And I watched her drive away

Just for a moment I was back at school
And felt that old familiar pain
And as I turned to make my way back home
The snow turned into rain

Source: AZ Lyrics.